As a result, Scotland Yard has revised its estimate of the total number of likely victims, which now totals 60.

"We can now confirm that we have received information from the public that suggest allegations against Jimmy Savile span six decades with reports starting in 1959 up to and including 2006," said commander Peter Spindler, head of Scotland Yard's Specialist Crime Investigations last night (October 13).

"Having now had the opportunity to review progress one week on I have revised my estimate of the number of likely victims to be about 60.

"Once again I want to thank those who have come forward and reassure them, and anyone else who contacts us, they will be listened to."

Veteran DJ Tony Blackburn, who presented shows on Radio 1 during Savile's 20-year stint at the station, said that it would be an "eternal regret" of his that his former colleague got away with such "monstrous acts" for years.

"I am disgusted beyond words at the vile, despicable actions of Jimmy Savile," said Blackburn in a statement.

"As the father of a 15-year-old daughter myself, I can only imagine the pain that the young women, men and their families have lived with over the decades.

"I have nothing but admiration for the bravery they have shown in living with this pain and with which they are now able to come forward and speak about what went on.

"While it is a tragedy that Jimmy Savile is not alive to face the justice that he deserves to face, I only hope that the victims are able to get some comfort from the fact that their stories are now being heard and believed."

Blackburn admitted that he had never regarded Savile as a friend and revealed that rumours about Savile's behaviour were rife throughout his career.

"He was not a nice man despite how the public viewed him at the peak of his success," he said.

"There were always rumours circulating about him. The problem at the time was that rumour was always hard to translate in to fact.

"Jimmy Savile was a master manipulator of the press and would do what he could to keep his image held high in the public conscience."

Blackburn added: "All of us who worked at the BBC during the time of these heinous crimes owe it to the victims to speak to the police and the BBC Investigations Unit and help them in any way we can."